The present invention generally relates to the confinement and storage of highly transitory and reactive materials, and more particularly to the confinement and storage of antimatter.
Antimatter consists of subatomic particles that are structurally identical to subatomic particles of matter, but have opposite fundamental properties. For example, positrons (antielectrons) possess the same quantum characteristics as electrons (spin, angular momentum, mass, etc.) but are positively charged. Antiprotons possess the same quantum characteristics as protons, but are negatively charged. When an antiparticle, such as an antiproton, collides with its corresponding matter particle (in this case a proton) they annihilate each other, converting their mass into energy. Antimatter annihilates so readily that it only exists on earth when it is artificially generated in high-energy particle accelerators. Elaborate means have been developed for storing antimatter on earth once it has been created. Often these means have included large, fixed machines such as the low-energy antiproton ring (LEAR) at CERN, in Switzerland, or the Antiproton Accumulator at Fermilab in the United States. Devices such as LEAR are extraordinarily complex, and relatively expensive to build, maintain, and operate.
Apparatus and methods for the production, containment and manipulation of antimatter, on a commercial scale, are also known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,939, issued to Deutch on Sep. 19, 1989, provides a process for producing antihydrogen which includes providing low-energy antiprotons and positronium (a bound electron-positron atomic system) within an interaction volume. Thermalized positrons are directed by electrostatic lenses to a positronium converter, positioned adjacent to a low-energy (less than 50 kiloelectronvolts or 50 keV) circulating antiproton beam confined within an ion trap. Collisions between antiprotons and ortho-positronium atoms generate antihydrogen, a stable antimatter species.
Deutch proposes use of an ion trap which can be either a high-vacuum penning trap or a radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) trap, with a racetrack design RFQ trap being preferred. Deutch provides non-magnetic confinement of the antimatter species by use of dynamic radio frequency electric fields. Deutch does not disclose any method or apparatus for confining antiprotons in a manner appropriate for their storage and transportation to a location distant from their creation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,506, issued to Kirchner on Apr. 27, 1993, an ion processing unit is disclosed including a series of M perforated electrode sheets, driving electronics, and a central processing unit that allows formation, shaping and translation of multiple effective potential wells. Ions, trapped within a given effective potential well, can be isolated, transferred, cooled or heated, separated, and combined. Kirchner discloses the combination of many electrode sheets, each having N multiple perforations, to create any number of parallel ion processing channels. The ion processing unit provides an N by M, massively-parallel, ion processing system. Thus, Kirchner provides a variant of the well known non-magnetic radio frequency quadrupole ion trap that is often used for the identification and measurement of ion species. Kirchner""s multiple electrode structures (FIGS. 1 and 2) appear to serve as an ion source and confinement barrier.
Kirchner suggests that his apparatus is well suited for storing antimatter. More particularly, Kirchner suggests that as antimatter is produced, groups of positronium or other charged antimatter can be introduced into each processing channel and held confined to an individually effective potential well. Kirchner also suggests that large amounts of antimatter could thereby be xe2x80x9cclocked-inxe2x80x9d just as an electronic buffer xe2x80x9cclocks-inxe2x80x9d a digital signal. It would appear that the adaptive fields created by Kirchner""s device might allow for the long-term storage of antimatter in a kind of electrode sponge. However, in suggesting the application of his device to antimatter confinement, Kirchner fails to disclose many essential aspects of such a device. For one thing, he makes no mention of vacuum requirements, which are essential to long-term confinement, storage, and transportation of antimatter. For another thing, Kirchner fails to provide any effective means for introducing antimatter, e.g., antiprotons, into his device or for effectively removing them from his device once they have been xe2x80x9cclockedxe2x80x9d through.
Antimatter could have numerous beneficial commercial/industrial and transportation related applications if it could be effectively stored and transported. For example, antiprotons may be usefully employed to detect impurities in manufactured materials, e.g., fan blades for turbines. Plasma created by the interaction of antimatter with matter could be employed as a propellant for terrestrial aircraft or, spacecraft for planetary or interstellar travel. Concentrated beams of antiprotons may be directed onto diseased tissue, e.g., cancer cells, to deliver concentrated radiation to those cells thereby destroying them, but without significantly affecting surrounding healthy tissue.
Commercial and industrial applications of antiprotons have been hampered by the fact that such activities must be undertaken at, or very close to, the place where antiprotons are generated, e.g., a high energy physics laboratory operating a synchrotron or the like. This is due to the very short life expectancy of an antiproton. As a result, antiprotons are not often used in commercial and industrial settings, due to the extraordinary requirements associated with the operation of a synchrotron of the type used to generate antiprotons in significant quantities.
In its broadest aspects, the invention provides a reaction trap including a dewar having an evacuated cavity and a cryogenic cold wall and an antiproton trap mounted within the dewar and thermally interconnected with the cold wall. The antiproton trap defines an antiproton penning region and a reaction region. A reactant insertion port; a reactant exit port and a passageway extending therebetween are defined through the dewar and the antiproton trap. Preferably, the reactant exit port is positioned adjacent to the reaction region of the antiproton trap. A sealable access port selectively provides access to the antiproton trap for selective introduction of antiprotons into the antiproton penning region. A sealable exit port selectively provides egress from the antiproton trap for selective discharge of reaction by-products formed within the reaction region.
Another inventive aspect of the present invention is the provision of a system for controlled interaction of matter and antimatter that includes a storage container for transporting antiprotons comprising a first dewar having an evacuated cavity and a cryogenic cold wall and a plurality of thermally conductive supports in thermal connection with the cold wall and extending into the cavity. A first antiproton trap is mounted on the extending supports within the cavity and a sealable cavity access port selectively provides access to the cavity for selective introduction into and removal from the cavity of the antiprotons. The system also includes a reaction trap including a second dewar having an evacuated cavity and a cryogenic cold wall. A second antiproton trap is mounted within the dewar and thermally interconnected with the cold wall. The antiproton trap defines an antiproton penning region and a reaction region. A reactant insertion port, a reactant exit port and a passageway extending therebetween are defined through the dewar and the antiproton trap. Preferably, the reactant exit port is positioned adjacent to the reaction region of the antiproton trap. A sealable access port selectively provides access from the sealable cavity access port of the first antiproton trap to the second antiproton trap for selective introduction of antiprotons into the antiproton penning region. A sealable exit port selectively provides egress from the second antiproton trap for selective discharge of reaction by-products formed within the reaction region.
In its broadest aspects, the present invention also comprises a method for controlled interaction between antimatter and matter. First and second antiproton confinement regions are provided and maintained at an ultra-low pressure and cryogenic temperature. A controllable magnetic field and controllable electric fields are established in each of the antiproton confinement regions. The electric fields are controlled so as to urge antiprotons from the first confinement region into the second antiproton confinement region. The electric fields are then modified so as to retain antiprotons in the second antiproton confinement region in dual nested electric potential wells. A reactant material is introduced into a region of space defined between the dual nested electric potential wells and the electric fields are modified so as to urge the antiprotons in the second antiproton confinement region toward the reactant material so as to controllably annihilate the reactant material.